Earth and Space By ; Devshree

Costs, Hazards and Benefits of Space Exploration

Cost

In 2005, NASA had paid approximately $16 billion for the space exploration projects. While for 2010, the budget had increased to $18.7 billion. In 2015, NASA’s budget for space exploration became $17.5 billion. NASA had payed the cost of around $25 billion for the three space projects, including Gemini, Apollo, and Mercury The budget for sending a shuttle into space is very high. The average cost for a space shuttle launch in 2011, was approximately $450 million for every mission. (http://www.popsci.com/real-cost-nasa-missions)

COSTS, HAZARDS AND BENEFITS OF SPACE EXPLORATION

Hazards

Space Junk/ Debris - Space junk can range from 1 cm to 10 cm, but it can often be larger. There are millions of debris floating in space, each travelling at a speed of 4 miles per second (6.6 km/ per second). If it makes contact with a shuttle, there could be major damages. It could result in dents, cracks or holes in the rocket, which is a big threat to the passengers inside.

Launching/ Re-entry - The launch and the re-entry are always the most dangerous parts. The shuttle needs to reach the speed of 7 miles/second to leave Earth, which is a very risky speed and can cause the engine to explode. The massive friction caused from the re-entry, can force the shuttle to ignite and explode.

Sun's Radiation - The sun’s radiation is very harmful and dangerous to us. The Earth’s atmosphere deflects 99.9% of all the radiation that comes from the sun, which keeps us all safe from the rays. But when we leave Earth, it become more riskier for us. Radiation travels very fast and can rip through our DNA molecules, which increase the chance for those people affected to develop cancer and more illnesses.

http://www.armaghplanet.com/blog/the-dangers-of-space-travel.html

COSTS, HAZARDS AND BENEFITS OF SPACE EXPLORATION

Benefits

GPS(Navigation Systems)

Weather Forecasts

A thorough understanding of how our planet's work

A better communication network

More advanced products that can be sold to the public

Environment; Space exploration has helped many scientists get a more clearer understanding of global warming. Of how it happens, what causes it and how it looks. NASA has created a few carbon-detecting satellites to monitor the carbon emissions in our atmosphere. NASA with the help of ERAST had created a way to harness the solar energy. They created solar devices for society to use energy and electricity without creating pollution. This way, our environment can stay cleaner. (http://www.space.com/26403-nasa-oco2-carbon-dioxide-satellite-launch.html)

Contributions of the Canadian Government

Over the next eight years, the Canadian government has agreed to contribute over $379 million to strengthen the various international space programs. They want to contribute more towards the ISS program more as well, therefore they extended their support until the year 2024. Our government is planning to spend $322.6 million to enhance the technology for the CSA. (http://spaceref.ca/government-of-canada/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-budget-and-canadas-space-program.html)

Dextre, a robotic handy-man from the Canadian Space Agency, inspired many SickKids researchers to think of a plan to create a robot that would be able to handle doing surgeries on delicate children. Canadian space technology is improving and innovating new surgical tools to make surgeries more safer and faster for children. (http://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/canadarm/)

The dexter project, has evolved into another project to help breast cancer patients. IGAR, the name of a robot made by the Canadian Space Agency has designed a specific robot to treat breast cancer. This machinery will accurately pinpoint and safely treat early stages of breast cancer, which will help the surgeons perform better operations. (http://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/canadarm/)

contributions of organizations

NASA, European space agency, Canadian Space Agency, Space Foundation, etc. All these space organizations create jobs for everyone around the world. A lot of people get employed to be able to work in different departments of those space organizations. Those people earn a lot of money to be able to support their family.

NASA has contributed alot to our society. NASA has developed many of the technologies and products we now use on a daily basis on Earth. NASA has a spin off program, which is when specific technologies or devices that were used aboard the space shuttle, are innovated into a more efficient product to sell to the public. The products can range from health products, to transportation, and products to improve the environment.

https://spinoff.nasa.gov/Spinoff2008/tech_benefits.html

Benefits/ Drawbacks of Space Exploration

Benefits

Health - Light Emitting Diode (LED);

The original LED technology was used to grow plants inside NASA's rocket. It then developed into a new medical device called Warp 10. The device is currently used to temporarily relieve stress from minor muscle pain, muscle spasms, arthritis and stiff joints. This device is also being used by U.S soldiers because it's a quick way to heal pain from muscle pulls and minor wounds. This device has improved the conditions of many patients. This is a revolutionary technology, and there is Warp 75 that is currently getting made.

Environment - Fire Resistant

NASA wants their astronauts to be safe therefore they funded AVCO to create a heat shield for the Apollo mission. The purpose of the heat shield is to reduce the amount of friction and heat that affects the space shuttle when the Apollo re-enters Earths atmosphere. Along with the heat shield, NASA funded for AVCO's production of fire-resistant paint. This led to steel coatings on high rise buildings to prevent flames from spreading quickly.

Space exploration products and technologies used for their missions, become a big benefit for society. The products many people use are made by NASA. All the products made a change in the way some people do things. Such as the protective gear that firefighters wear. Before 1976, firefighters didn't have much protection against the massive flames. There were a lot of causalities because of the lack of safety they had. NASA used the space outfits and rocket casting they use, to develop fire resistant gear for firefighters. Astronauts experience much more than humans do on Earth, which is why they lend their efficient devices and turn them into something that will be more beneficial to all humans.

https://spinoff.nasa.gov/Spinoff2008/tech_benefits.html

Even with all the endless benefits, space exploration is still very dangerous. There are many medical and health problems, such as if astronauts run out of oxygen, become sick, or get an illness, it definitely won't be easy to deal with because there will be limited aid. Radiation is a big risk There could also be system malfunctions, which can be hard to handle because it can be stressful. Another hazard is if parts of the rocket break down, crack or get dented and effect the rocket itself.

TEchnologies used for space exploration

Telescopes - One of NASA’s most powerful space observatory tools is the Hubble telescope. the Hubble has greatly helped NASA's scientists learn more about the deep space. It has accurately told us that the universe is thirteen - fourteen billion years ago. The Hubble discovered that dark energy in our universe is the reason our universe expands and accelerates. It has showcased how galaxies are made, from the dust and particles until it becomes a platform for planets to develop as well. (http://hubblesite.org/the_telescope/hubble_essentials/)

Satellites - Satellites really help scientists understand how space is with images that are a lot clearer than using telescopes on Earth. They track the Earths atmosphere, which helps scientists predict the weather forecast for the day. Satellites keep track of Earth's atmosphere, and the safety of the air, this can help doctors track for diseases and illnesses in the air. This can help improve the safety for the citizens of various countries. Communication would be limited without them. (https://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/5-8/features/nasa-knows/what-is-a-satellite-58.html)

The Night Sky

A few celestial objects that are visible are asteroids, meteors, comets, auroras, and stars. These objects are usually visible when you look up at the sky, but some celestial objects such as constellations are only noticeable with a telescope.

The Hubble telescope made by NASA has been the most efficient and useful to scientists to figure out what lies in our universe. The Hubble has helped NASA make a significant improvement towards their research and studies on space. Scientists are able to observe galaxies, stars, and many planets that are very distant. (https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/story/index.html)

Our Universe

Big Bang - The big bang theory is a theory of how our universe began approximately 13.7 billion years ago. At one point all the matter in our universe was one hot ball of gas. An explosion near, triggered the ball and it exploded. Because of the hot explosion, all the matter was forced out very quickly, therefore it spread at the speed of light. Our universe is continuing to expand today, although it doesn't expand as fast anymore.Our universe was made from something, and this theory is predicted to be the most correct. Even though we don’t have exact evidence, from various studies about how galaxies are made. Scientists have connected the two together, and came up with a conclusion that our universe was also made from dust and gas that exploded. (http://www.space.com/25126-big-bang-theory.html)

(https://science.nasa.gov/astrophysics/focus-areas/what-powered-the-big-bang)

Our solar system

A cloud of stellar dust had collapsed because of the pressure from an explosion from a nebula star. Our sun was born when hydrogen atoms mixed with helium and created a large amount of energy, which turned into the sun we see today. The sun was spinning so fast and hard, that it pulled in all the surround dust, and particles. With so much energy and pressure spreading through the area, many particles began to stick together forming spheres, which turned into large and small planets that is now available in our solar system. (https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/edu/learn/video/space-place-in-a-snap-the-solar-systems-formation/)

NASA is planning to launch more teams into space, for them to explore farther away and study the deep space. The new recruits are part of SERVI(Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute). The research teams are going to collect data for various topics that are hard for scientists to research. The research teams will study more about the moons, more on celestial objects and the different space environments. We will be able to know much more about the universe when these teams are sent up into space, because they can track various objects and collect data. (https://www.nasa.gov/ames/press-release/nasa-selects-new-research-teams-to-further-solar-system-exploration-research)

The Sun

Solar System - The sun is the most important star for our solar system. Its gravitational pull keeps the planets together. Without the sun keeping the planets together, all the planets would not be able to control themselves and end up falling. All the planets would freeze without the suns massive light and heat.

NASA has many observational research on the sun. NASA's first solar voyage mission was Ulysses. It collected a lot of useful data for the scientists back on Earth. SOHO, another solar voyage project, was launched to study the solar flare and solar wind, and the outer shell of the sun. SOHO spotted many sunspots under the thin outer surface. Solar tornadoes were discovered, and approximately a thousand comets. With the help of Ulysses and SOHO, researchers found out more than they thought on the sun. Also with the help of these robots, scientists were able to figure out the connections between Earth and the Sun. Researchers have stated that the sun is very important to Earth. (https://www.nasa.gov/missions/solarsystem/Why_We_16.html)

Astronomical PHENOMENONS

A few astronomical phenomenons are lunar and solar eclipses, meteorites, aurora borealis, black holes, constellations etc. Humans have been using the telescope to be able to view space from Earth. To be able to locate stars, planets, constellations, asteroids, comets and meteors since they have first built them. Now technology has advanced and we use high tech machines to locate and pinpoint the exact location of where a star can be located. Radio dishes help spot visible light, near infrared light, and radio waves from space. (http://www.space.com/tech-robots)

NASA is planning a science mission to explore black holes. They are officially using the IXPE plan(Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explore). This plan consists of flying three space telescopes as close as they can get to our black hole. This increases the chance for scientists to measure the cosmic x-rays, study the gravitational pull and the magnetic field. (https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-selects-mission-to-study-black-holes-cosmic-x-ray-mysteries)

Humans have always want to research and learn new things. Studying space, sparked people and made them realize there's a lot more to our universe than just our world. Humans use the research they learned from observations to help the society. (https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/whyweexplore/why_we_explore_main.html#.WNL2gjsrLb1)

Matter And Energy

Energy

Inside of the sun's deep core lies massive amounts of helium and hydrogen atoms. Because the two atoms are mixing with each other, it creates a large reaction, called thermonuclear fusion. This causes a lot of explosions within the sun because of the high energy. The explosions release gamma rays (electromagnetic radiation; energy) into space. The energy rays travel to Earth, and only 1-2% of it reaches inside of Earth.

Matter

Heat has always been inside of Earth. From the point Earth was formed, there was heat inside of Earth. But rock can not keep heat inside, therefore small amounts of heat kept spreading into the atmosphere and out into space. The heat is necessary for Earth's environmental life can continue to grow. But at the beginning there was not a lot of heat that reached Earth, therefore Earth was not yet alive. The molten rock inside of Earth's core, was becoming less hot because the heat kept escaping.

http://www.calpoly.edu/~rfield/OSQ%20OASESSPCBM.htm

Created By
Devshree Sathe
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Created with images by WikiImages - "earth soil creep moon" • skeeze - "milky way andromeda stars" • skeeze - "iss space station international space station" • scotbot - "Night Sky - Milky Way - Carl Zeiss DT1680ZA" • NASA Goddard Photo and Video - "Japan" • jegerendreng - "space" • fleskw - "space" • nigelhowe - "Stars" • skeeze - "milky way andromeda stars" • fleskw - "space" • skeeze - "andromeda galaxy milky way collision" • nigelhowe - "Stars" • Hans - "starry sky star galaxies" • rodrigolourenco - "nocturne dark full moon"

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